Mantle, a leader in metal 3D printing technology for precision tooling, announced it has reached a significant milestone by securing $20 million in Series C funding. This funding round brought the total to over $61.5 million and it also marks a major step towards widespread adoption of its precision metal manufacturing technology.
The Series C funding round will be essential in supporting Mantle’s rapid market expansion, scaling manufacturing to meet demand, and developing new capabilities and materials. Led by Schooner Capital, the funding round was also joined by the company’s largest existing investors, including Fine Structure Ventures, Foundation Capital, Corazon Capital, 11.2 Capital, and Build Collective.
With a severe labor shortage of toolmakers and skilled tradespeople challenging the manufacturing industry—driven by a workforce nearing retirement and surging demand for the tooling essential for everyday products—manufacturers are turning towards automation and cutting-edge technology solutions to navigate these workforce obstacles.
Following a year marked by double-digit growth in shipments, Mantle’s precision metal 3D printing technology is designed specifically to print injection mold tools, an application where other metal 3D printing methods have traditionally fallen short. And this innovation slashes the time and cost needed to fabricate high-quality molds and dies. This technology offers unmatched precision, surface finish, and metal properties while automating the tool production and reducing the dependence on scarce skilled labor.
Mantle’s technology has played a major role in producing millions of end-use parts, ranging from medical devices and deodorant packaging to industrial components. And by focusing on printing tools for mass production rather than the parts themselves, the company has tackled the longstanding issues of high costs and lengthy production times associated with tool creation for mass production.
This strategic shift resulted in cost reductions for customers exceeding 65% and accelerated manufacturers’ development cycles by up to 90%.
KEY QUOTES:
“Mantle is poised to revolutionize the global tooling industry. The company’s advanced manufacturing platform, TrueShape, is proven to deliver significant cost savings and, more importantly, unprecedented speed for its customers. This paradigm-shifting solution is readily adoptable and sorely needed to address persistent skilled labor shortages and accelerate product development timelines for industrial toolmakers and OEMs worldwide.”
– Alexandra Manick, Principal of Schooner Capital
“The fragile state of the global supply chain has triggered a massive reshoring initiative that sharply increased the demand for molded parts and thus toolmaking. We’re navigating a twin set of hurdles: a toolmaking workforce in the U.S. that has shrunk by half over the past quarter-century, coupled with the rising costs and extended lead times brought on by constrained toolmaking capacities. This has driven manufacturers to seek out groundbreaking solutions. For our innovative customers, the adoption of Mantle’s tooling technology has emerged as a key strategy to enhance labor productivity, cut expenses, and drastically shorten lead times.”
– Ted Sorom, CEO and co-founder of Mantle
“We purchased a Mantle system for two reasons: to reduce time-to-market for our products and to make our toolroom more efficient while attracting next-generation talent to Heyco. By using Mantle to print mold tooling, we have already brought a new product to market two months faster than we would have otherwise. We also increased the throughput in our toolroom by giving our toolmakers access to the latest technology that makes them significantly more productive.”
– Danny Anthony, Heyco’s Vice President of Operations
“We pride ourselves in our commitment to staying at the forefront of technology. Tackling both the decline of next generation toolmakers and the relentless pace of industry demand, embracing Mantle’s metal 3D printing technology was not just a step towards innovation, it was a leap towards securing our legacy.”
– Denny Reiland, third-generation CEO of General Pattern
